The Family Secret
by Tate Icasa
Summary: There's an awful lot about her family Taori Higurashi doesn't know. And some of it, neither do you. . .
1. Taori

The Family Secret

By. Tate Icasa

AN: I posted this. . .and realized I forgot the disclaimer. . .yea, they ain't mine. . .do you really think I'd be writing fanfiction if they were?

Chapter One

Taori

"Taori Higurashi!" says an exasperated voice above my head. "Get _up_!"

I moan and roll over, trying to bury my head in blankets, but they are pulled away.

"Taori!" the voice exclaims.

I open my eyes a slit, just in time to see a figure throw open the blinds. It is my best friend, Amiya. She doesn't have a last name. Neither do her parents, or her older brother, Shoko.

Amiya and I are 14 and 15, respectively, but Shoko is 17. He looks like he's twenty. Our familiy's have been friends since before I was born. They all met when they were younger, and were all exploring the world.

Dad's still an explorer, so are Amiya and Shoko's parents, but they don't travel together. Dad manages to come home once a month, despite all this. Amiya's family is always around when Dad shows up, at least a day before, and at least a day after.

Most of the time they stay in our house. We all live in this house. It's been in our family for generations. By all of us, I mean Mom, Grandma, Great-Grandpa, Uncle S, and me.

A pillow hits me in the side of the head. "Oi! I'm up! I'm up!" I say, lifting my head.

Amiya grins triuphantly at me and tosses me a lilac colored skirt and shirt set. She crosses the room to the mirror and begins to brush her long brown, while I change.

I stop quickly to run a brush through my tangled black hair. I have to look my best, Dad is coming tonight. I blink at my reflection. I'm the mirror image of my mother. That's what everyone tell me. Our faces are similarly set, and we have the same complection. Both of my parents have long black hair and brown eyes, and so do I.

I glance over at Amiya, and I'm startled to see that she's already changed into the pink and green outfit she usually wears. She says it used to be her mothers. I believe her, her mother usually wears an identical outfit.

"C'mon, Taori," she says, "Your mom said breakfast was almost ready!" She grabs me by the arm and starts pulling me out of the room.

"Amiya!" I protest, trying to pull away, but she has a very strong grip and won't let go. Finally, I surrender and just follow her downstairs.

"Good morning, girls!" Mom says cheerfully when we come into the kitchen. She sets two more plates down on the nearly full table. I count them. Six plates. That means Grandma, Great-Grandpa, and Uncle S won't be joining us this morning. I'm kind of disappointed, I love talking to Uncle S, he's really fun.

" 'Morning Mom," I says, sitting down.

Amiya curtsies and murmurs a greeting before she sits down next to me. I roll my eyes.

Amiya's parents come in from the yard. Amiya's mom is wearing an outfit identical to Amiya's, and they look like twins. Her father is wearing his usual black and purple robes. I hardly think anything of it now, but when I was younger I thought it was weird for a grown man to wear robes like that. But mom says that's how lots of people dress where he's from. She's never told me where that is, and I've never asked.

Shoko comes in from the spare bedroom, yawning. He's wearing his usual tan colored shirt and black pants. They look old fashioned, but I don't say anything. It doesn't do any good, I can never get a rise out of Shoko.

"Mom?" I ask. "When's dad going to get here?"

Mom looks at me. "I don't know. You know how your father is."

I roll my eyes again and Amiya elbows me in the ribs.

Once everyone is seated we begin to eat. Mom's made eggs, bacon, and pancakes, so we're all basically silent as we eat.

It's pretty much a lazy day at home, it's summer, so after breakfast Amiya, Shoko and I go for a walk around town.

A few moths ago, I asked Shoko why he didn't just drive us around, and that's when I found out he couldn't drive! His family moves around so much he's never bothered to learn. That's what I was told, but I think it sounds Fishy.

A lot of times I see and hear Fishy Things, though. That's what I've taken to calling them. Things that don't seem right, or something. Sometimes, I think they're all hiding something from me.

Anyway, we're just walking around town. There's nothing particularly interesting about our town, except the Shrine in our back yard, but I'm not allowed to get there.

We walk to the park, and Amiya agrees to teach me how to use a boomerang. She carries two wooden boomerangs tied to her waist. One has a red stripe on it and the other has a blue stripe. She carries them around everywhere, for protection she says. And because, according to her, her mom has a huge boomerang, about the size of a person. I don't believe that, I've never seen a boomerang that big.

Shoko sits on a bench, watching us, all morning. He never says a word. But around noon he snatches the boomerangs out of the air and pints to the sun. He doesn't say a word, he never does. I can't even remember hearing his voice. Amiya says he isn't a Mute, he just doesn't like to talk.

Well, we can all see that the sun is almost as far in the sky as it can get, and I realize we're all probably starving, so, since I'm the only one with any money, I buy us all some snacks. We haven't even finished eating when my cell phone rings.

A few minutes later, I'm barreling up main street towards my house.

AN: Can you tell me who's who? Give me guesses in your reviews. Cookies to those who get them all right! maniacal, slightly unnerving grin.


	2. A Visit With Dad

The Family Secret

By. Tate Icasa

Chapter Two

A Visit With Dad

"Dad!" I shout, slamming the door behind me, forgetting that Amiya and Shoko were following me.

Dad ruffles my hair, completely messing it up, but I don't care. Then he holds me at arms lenght and looks me over.

"You got taller." he says finally. I roll my eyes and swat at him. Dad can be such a dork sometimes. But I grin and nod, then I hug him.

Dad and I get along pretty well, given that we only see each other once a month. He takes me out into the backyard so I can show him my new martial arts skills. This year he's actually agreed to spar with me. I know I can't beat him yet, though.

After a while, mom calls us inside for supper. She's made beef-flavored Ramen, like she dies every time Dad comes to visit, because it's his favorite. None of us say very much during dinner, and I know that very soon Dad is going to have to leave.

First, Mom makes us all clean up the kitchen, even Dad. Then we all sit cross-legged on the ground, in a circle in front of the huge tree in our back yard. Dad tells us old myths about Sengoku Jidai, the Age of the Warring States, until it's almost too dark to see.

"Mou!" I hear him curse under his breath.

"Nani?" I ask.

He seems surprised that I heard him. "I'm late. I should be leaving now."

I know what's coming next, and sure enough, the next words mom says are, "Taori, say goodbye to your father and go to bed."

I've noticed two things. First, mom never says dad's name. I don't even know it. And second, I've never seen dad leave, I always get sent to bed..

I do as she says, though, and Amiya comes with me. We don't stay up long, because we want to be wide awake tomorrow, for her last day in town.

It's a quiet night, and I don't dream. I hardly ever dream. Amiya says she dreams all the time, but she won't tell me what she dreams about. I don't mind, but I add it to my list of Fishy Things.

We have another lazy day, except this time I teach Amiya archery. I'm great with a bow and arrow. Everyone says it's a gift I inherited from my mother, but I say it's just practice.

Mom orders us a pizza and we rent a movie and stay up until the stars come out. Mom says' Amiya's family is going to leave seen, so I get sent to bed. I sight and go upstairs. Then I get an idea.

I lock my door the second I'm inside, and scribble a quick message on the notebook on my desk. I toss some cloths and a couple of candy bars into my school back and pick up a flashlight, turning out the light so everyone will think I"m asleep. Then I put the bag over my shoulder and sit by the window, watching.

Mom and Amiya's family talk for a while. I can hear snatchets of the conversation, which I shouldn't be able to hear, but none of it makes any sense, so I ignore it. After a few minutes, mom disappears inside the house.

I have my moms old room, so there's a tree right outside the window, and I slip out and watch from the tree branch. Amiya and her family seem kind of cautious, and they open the door to the Shrine and slip inside, one by one.

I drop down from the tree as silently as I can, and peer into the Shrine. Staying as still as possible so they won't notice me. One at a time, they hop down into the old well. I wait a few minutes, but it doesn't look like they're coming back. I step inside, thinking they could have gotten hurt down there, and look into the well. It's empty.

"Amiya?" I call softly. "Shoko?" When no one responds I climb down into the well, think maybe they got out some other way. I get down on my hands and knees, and begin searching the ground for trap doors.

It comes quickly, and I realized I'm falling, slowly, trough a blue, starry place. It's like falling through water. I try to turn, but it's hard and slow, and there's nothing there anyway. As quickly as it had come, the falling stops. I'm sitting on my ands and knees, in the bottom of the well.

But it's not the same well. I can see the stars above, and a tiny cresent moon. There's a vine growing up the side of the well, so I climb it, and siton the edge of the well.

I can see people not too far away, and I guess they must be Amiya and her family. "Oi!" I call.

I see them stop and turn, before they notice me and start running. It doesn't take them long to reach me, and now I can see for sure that it's Amiya's family.

"Taori!" Amiya's mother exclaims

"How did you get here?" Her father asks.

"Same way you did. I followed you." I can see it in his eyes, he's going to send me back. Suddenly, I realize that I don't want to go back there. There is boring, and, maybe there's something interesting here. "Please, can I stay?"

"Does your mother know you're here, Taori?" he asks.

"I left her a not." I say, shrugging.

He seems to consider this a moment before nodding.

"Amiya," he says, "Run to the village and inform Kaede and Inuyasha of what has transpired here." He leans over and whispers something in her ear before she runs off. He takes something out of his robes and scratches something onto it. After a second, I realize he's writing a message on the back of an excorsism surta. He drops it into the well.

"Come on, then," Amiya's mother says. "If we start walking, we can reach the village by dawn."

Her father nods.

"Oi!" I exclaim. "Will one of you tell me _where_ we _are_?"

Amiya's parent exchange a glance. Shoko shakes his head and begins to sign an explainationg. I understand very little of what he's signing, but I get enough to understand that we're in Sengoku Jidai, which is enough to knock the sense out of any normal person.

We begin to walk.


	3. Sengoku Jidai

The Family Secret

By. Tate Icasa

Chapter Three

Sengoku Jidai

Just Amiya's mother said, we reach the village by dawn. I'm slightly tired, but not too much, because I'm used to staying up late. Barely anyone is outside at this time of morning.

Amiya's father lead us to a house and pulls aside the curtain, sticking his head inside.

"Miroku! Sango!" says a strange voice. "You're back!" Looking inside, I notice that the voice is coming from a three-foot-tall orange-haired guy, with a tail and pointed ears. He looks about the size of a kid, but I can tell by his face that he much be an adult.

"Hello, Shippo," Amiya's father, Miroku, says, stepping inside. Shoko, Sango, and I follo him. "This is Taori Higurashi-" he begins.

"You're Kagomes's daughter!" Shippo cuts in, holding his hand out. "Hiya, Taori, I"m Shippo."

I shake his hand and smile. I notice Amiya standing by the wall. One one side of her there's an old lady in a rocking chair, with an eye patch on her right eye.

"Ye are the child of Kagome." the woman says, not opening her uncovered eye. I approach her cautiously. "Come closer, child, so I can see ye." When I am within a foot of her, I stop. She opens her eye and looks at me. "Ye look like your mother." She says finally.

"Yes, Ma'am." I reply, because I don't know what else to say.

"I am Kaede, the village priestess." She nods and closes her eye, so I turn away.

That's when I notice the man sitting on the floor. "So, who're you?" I ask calmly. Then I notice his appearance. He looks like nothing I've ever seen before. He has long, liver-white hair, and is wearing a red kimono. And, the most intriuging part, he has furry dog ears on top of his head. "_What_ are you?" Then I remember Shippo's tail. "And, what's _he?_" I ask, pointing over my shoulder.

The man openes his eyes, and they're a stunning gold, and stands up. "I'm Inuyasha." he says, and his voice sounds oddly familiar. "I'm hanyou, and Shippo is a kitsune." he sighs. "I heard there are some youkai in a village not far from here." he says, addressing Miroku. Miroku nos.

"I guess that means we can't stay." Sango says apologetically to Kaede. Kaede nods. I"m still slightly shocked by everything thats happened to me, so I follow them kind of numbly.

I get outside just in time to see a tiny two-tailed cat grow to about 20 times it's size. Miroku, Sango, Shoko, Amiya and Shippo, climb atop the two-tail. I can see in their eyes that ther's not enough room for me.

"Inuyasha?" Miroku suggests.

Inuyasha glares up at him, the most incredulous look I've ever seen plastered to his face. It's so comical I start to laugh, and slowly, a grin spreads across his face as well.

"Fine." he says after a second. "Climb up onto my back, Taori."

I blink, then do as he says.

"Kirara!" Sango says commandingly, and the giant two-tail obediently leaves the ground, fire on its paws and tails. I assume that Kirara is it's name.

"Hold on." Inuyasha warns, before he begins to run, leaping at intervals to help keep up with Kirara.

We travel all day, and most of the night, and I realize that at some point I must have fallen asleep, because it's afternoon again when we arrive at the village.

Sago and Amiya manage to disappear after Kirara has shrunken. We're standing at the edge of the village, and a group of the villagers approach us.

"Youkai!" Someone yells.

Miroku holds up a hand before a panic can start. "Calm down, everyone," he says. "We mean you no harm. We have come to rid you of the youkai."

"I see no demon slayers with you!" A man near the front scoffs, shaking his fist.

Fortunately, Sango and Amiya choose this moment to come out of the woods behind us, wearing identical pink and black outfits, and pulled up hair.

The man who had spoken's jaw dropped.

"You were saying?" Inuyasha says with a smirk.

The man turns to Sango, regaining his composure as he does so. "Slayers, welcome, I. . .I meant no disrespect toward your companions.

Sango nods. "This Youkai that plagues you, where is it now?"

"I don't honestly know, Slayer. I comes only at night, and disappears quickly, taking one of the children with it."

"Then we shall stay here until nightfall." Sango announces. I notice that she has a large (three-feet, at least) wooden boomerang strapped to her back. So, Amiya wasn't kidding.

"Of course.." Says the man. He appears to be in charge of the village. "My name is Katsuyuki, by the way." He leads us to a building. "This is my home. You are welcome to stay here for the day." he bows quickly and hurries away, glancing nervously at Inuyasha.

Miroku watches him go, grinning slightly as he says, "Looks lkie someone's afraid of our half-demon friend."

Sango elbows him in the ribs.

Shippo opens the door and steps inside, so I follow him, and the others come in after us. It's a one room building, and sparsely furnished, so there's plenty of room for all of us. Even so, I don't feel like staying for long. I turn to Miroku.

"Miroku-sama, can I go out and look around the village?"

He nods thoughtfully, "Amiya, go with her."

_That's ok,_ I think_, I need to talk to Amiya anyway._

We walk a long way in silence. Finally, "You knew about all of this, and you didn't tell me?" I ask.

She shrugs. "It's nothing personal. Our families didn't want you to know."

"Well why not?" I ask, then, before she can answer, I ask a better question, "Has mmy father ever been here?"

"Yeah." She says. "We travel with him sometimes." Another shrug. "He's from around her. From Kaede's village, actually."

"That's. . .nice to know." I look around and realize that we've managed to walk into the forest and the sun is starting to set. "We. . .should probably be going back now."

Amiya nods. "Sango-san will be worried if we don't return soon."

"Sango-san?" I ask, surprised. "Shouldn't you be calling her mom?"

"Not in this time period." She says. "Come on, let's get back."


	4. The Fall Of Darkness

The Family Secret

By. Tate Icasa

Chapter Four

The Fall of Darkness

The stars are out by the time we reach the edge of the village. _It's nighttime_, I realized, _The youkai might be coming soon. The demon. _I shudder, and Amiya gives me a withering look. It seems out of place on her face.

I feel something cold on my ankle and yelp at it pulls me down and starts dragging me away.

"Taori!"

"Amiya!" I shriek, looking for her, but I'm already too far away and I can tell.

I look up at my captor. It appears to be a giant ant, and there's someone on top, riding it.

The person must be female, for she's wearing a bright blue Miko dress. She's standing, not facing me. She has black hair, and I can see silver streaks near the front, and it's blowing behind her.

After a while I close my eyes and loose consciousness.

I wake up again in a dark place. I realize that I'm outside a castle like building. There are stars out, and a half-moon.

_Half-moon?_ I think. _How long_ have _I been unconscious?_

"About a week and a half." Says a voice. I turn to find the back of the strange woman who kidnapped me. "Your friends are looking for you, of course, but it will take them a while." She turns, and for a second it seems like I'm looking into a mirror. Except for the silver streaks in her hair and her amber eyes, we could be twins. Except she's about five years older than I am.

"W-who are you?" I ask.

"I am called Seiko." She says, gazing at me. "And you might say I am your sister. If not by blood then by spirit."

I look at her again and blink.

"My mother was Kikyo." Seiko says, as if that explains everything. My confusion must show on my face, because she begins to tell me the tragic story of Inuyasha and Kikyo. (A/N: I assume you already know the story so I won't make you read it all. Apparently, Kikyo was one week pregnant when she died, and the baby, Seiko, was ressurected with her. Yea. . .

"So, this makes you my sister how?" I ask.

"Kagome, your mother, is Kikyo's reincarnation.

I shrug, then I think of something. "Oi, are you the youkai who's taking the village children?"

"They are safe." Seiko says. "As are you. I mean no harm to anyone."

"Then why do you kidnap the children?"

She regards me steadily. "I am trying to lure my father, the hanyou Inuyasha, to me." She pauses. "Come, Taori-chan, I will show you a place you can stay."

My room here isn't small. In fact, ti's very large. It's kind of golden, and has a nice silk bed. There are scrolls on the walls, more than I've ever seen before. I can read them, and I'm learning so much. About Sengoku Jidai and about myself. My spiritual powers have increased immensely since I started training with Seiko. I hardly call her by name now. I mostly call her neechan. It means sister.

I've been here almost a week now, and I've been in Sengoku Jidai for half a month. I'm surprised that Amiya's family haven't found me yet, but I guess that's ok. I've met a few of the village children. They're content here, as am I, but still, I wonder. . .

"Neechan?" I ask today. "Are you still taking children from the village?"

"No." she says softly.

"That's good. Neechan, why haven't they come yet?"

"Remember Taori-chan, we traveled for a week before we reached home. They must travel that distance as well. Who was that girl who was with you?"

"Amiya? She's Sango and Miroku's daughter."

"Is she your friend? Would she tell her parents which way we went?"

"Hai." I answer. "She is and she would."

"Then they will come."

I nod, completely convinced. Neechan can't be wrong.

I look out my window, and the stars are out. There's a full moon tonight, and it's reflected in the pond and the dew on the grass. I love the nighttime here, it's so peaceful. I slide into my night gown, and crawl out the window. Neechan knows I go out at night. She offered to put a door to the garden in my room, but I turned her down. I like going this way.

I walk barefoot across the grass and sit by the pond. I come out here almost every night. I rarely sleep in my nice silk bed, I prefer to sleep out here, under the stars. I yawn and curl up to sleep.

I wake up earlier than usual, something bothering me. I sense something in the bushes. I sit up. Amiya's eyes look out of the bush at me. They're pretty well hidden, so she thinks I can't see her.

"Oi, Amiya, come out of there." I sigh, putting my hands on my knees. I can see the others behind her. "I see you, too." I say.

"Come on." Inuyasha says.

"Nani?"

"We're rescuing you, Taori. Come on."

"No! Neechan wants to meet you. She's been waiting." I giggle, something I rarely do. "Neechan! Oi, neechan, they're here!"

I cock my head when I hear her foot steps. She's not running, only walking fast.

They're all looking at me like I'm insane, and I realize that they think I'm being held here against my will.

"Taori-chan." I hear her say. Inuyasha's ears twitch, and I assume he can hear her too. "Bring your friends inside, dear."

"Hai, neechan." I wave Amiya, and co. forward. "C'mon."

Amiya doesn't move. None of them do. Suddenly they all burst into speech. Well, all but Shoko. . .

Finally, Inuyasha interrupts them all, yelling, "What the hell is going on here!"

I raise my eyebrow. "Neechan wants to meet you." I say, turning.

"Taori, you don't have a sister." Miroku says. "Much less in _this_ era."

"Neechan is my sister." I begin, and I start to walk, so they have to follow me. "Because my mom is her mom reborn." I shrug. "And I figures she's about a quarter youkai, too."

"And how do you figure that?" Inuyasha asks, part of the ay in the window.

I shrug. "Because you're half."

He falls the rest of the way into the room. I can see that he lost his balance, but he stands up again, still looking shocked. ". . .what?"


	5. Seiko

The Family Secret

By. Tate Icasa

Chapter Five

Seiko, Daughter of the Demon and the Dead

I grin. "Neechan says she's your daughter by Kikyo." I say clearly. Amiya's whole family is obviously trying not to laugh, but Shippo is grinning broadly.

"Gee, Inuyasha, I didn't know you and Kikyo-"

"Neither did they." I cut in quickly. "Kikyo didn't know it herself. She was only a week pregnant when she died."

"And the baby was ressurected with her." Miroku said.

"Hai." Neechan says, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Mother abandoned me here when I was very young. Only my youkai blood allowed me to survive." She patted the bed next her her. "Come here, Taori-chan."

I rush to obey. Neechan smiles at me before turning her head back to Inuyasha.

"This," Inuyasha says, looking around, "is a very elaborate trick."

"No trick, Father." Neechan says. "My name is Seiko, and I am the daughter of the Miko Kikyo and the hanyou Inuyasha."

"There's no denying that she looks like Kikyo, Inuyasha." Sango says. "And she has your eyes."

Neechan turns to Sango. "The village children are safe. You may return them to their homes if you with."

It hits me then that it'll take almost two weeks to get back home. I need to get back before Dad does.

"Do not fret so, Taori-chan." Neechan says, reading my thoughts. "You will return to your time in time for your fathers visit. Come, all of you, spend the day here. Tomorrow you will be free to leave."

I nod. "Neechan, I'm hungry. Can we have breakfast?"

"Hai. Why don't you go prepare it?"

"Sure." I say. I hop up and leave the room.

I can hear them while I prepare a large dish of sweet porridge for us to share, and grab a handful of spoons. We all share the porridge, and neechan sends us kids away so she can talk to the adults. She doesn't know I can still hear her from the garden I take Amiya and Shoko to. But I do my best not to eavesdrop.

"So, you spent the last week here?" Amiya asks. "What was it like?"

I grin and skip a rock across the pond. "Hai. It's nice here. Neechan is so nice. Oh, watch this!" I fold my hands Miko style, and concentrate until they start to glow. Carefully, I concentrate on a stone until it, too, begins to glow, and lift off the ground. I skip it across the pond, and let the glow fade before I unfold my hands.

"Impressive." It's the first time I've heard Shoko speak. He has a nice voice. I turn. He looks different. . .older, somehow.

"What happened?"

"He's cursed." Amiya answers. "For every word he says he ages a month."

I can see the confirmation in Shoko's eyes, and it makes my heart ache. I never noticed how beutiful his blue-gray eyes are. _Wow, where'd _that_ come from?_

"There must be a way to break the curse." I suggest.

Amiya looks at me sharply. She nods, ans speaks as though quoting someone else. " 'Three women must bear him a child, and all three must be stillborn. On the first, he will begin to age only a day for each word he issues. On the second, only a minute. On the third, the curse will be broken.'"

"What a horrible curse to put on someone!" I gasp.

Shoko nods.

"Who placed such a curse on him?" I inquire.

Before Amiya can respond, however, neechan's voice comes from the house.

"Taori-chan, it's time for your lesson!"

I grin sheepishly. "Gomen, neechan! I'm coming!" I call, hopping to my feet and running to the window. I swing my legs over the window sill and drop into the room. Amiya and Shoko are behind me. "Can we play with fire today, neechan, _please?_" I ask.

"You just want to show off for your friends."

I stick my tongue out at her.

She laughs. "Fine. Let's play with fire."


	6. Playing With Fire

The Family Secret

By. Tate Icasa

Chapter Six

Playing With Fire

"Get changed and meet us." She says, her voice becoming that of the Miko Seiko-san, instead of my sister.

"Hai, Seiko-san." I rush from the room, my Miko garments in hand.

As soon as I've changed I rush out to the Training Grounds. It's a little alcove near the back of the castle. The ground is covered with sand today.

"Taori!" Amiya gasps.

I think I see Shoko smile faintly.

I turn my attention to Seiko-san. "I'm ready."

She nods, kneeling to start a fire.

Just then, one of the village children rushes in. It's a gril, and one I don't recognize.

"Seiko-sama! Seiko-sama!" She shrieks.

"Calm down, little one, what is it?"

"It's Yotai, Seiko-sama! He's hurt. Bad."

I know Yotai. He's about three years younger than I am. He's a good kid.

Seiko-san looks up at me. "You go. You're better at that kind of stuff."

I blink once. "Hai, Seiko-san, if you say so." I follow the girl, and the others follow me.

"Shoko, a moment, please?" Seiko asks. I hear him stop. By now, I know, we're out of the normal human hearing range, so Shippo, Inuyasha, and I are probably the only ones who can hear the rest of the conversation.

I grin at it. Amiya, standing next to me, looks at me strangely. I notice that Shippos's grinning as well.

"What?" Sango asks. "Why are you grinning?"

"Neechan just offered to bear Shoko's first still born." I say. "And Shoko accepted."

Shippo looks at me curiously. "Are you _sure_ you're not part youkai?" he asks me.

I do my best to ignore the death glares everyone else gives him.

The girl stops at a door. She points. "Yotai's in there." She says, and disappears.

I shrug and open the door.

Flames jump out at me. I throw my arms up.

"So, you are the one." Says a voice inside.


	7. The Truth, Part 1: Origin of Seiko

The Family Secret

By. Tate Icasa

Chapter Seven

The Truth, Part One: Origin of Seiko

"Who are you?" Inuyasha calls, instantly in a fighting stance.

"Calm yourself, Inuyasha," The voice, decidedly female, says calmly. I can see the sillhouette moving in the fire. "Taori Higurashi, run and fetch your sister."

"She's. . .um. . .busy. . ." I mumble, my face going red.

The figure sighs. "Very well."

"Where's Yotai? Is he alright?"

"The boy was never here." She moves closer to me. "Miko garments. Fitting attire, Taori."

I ignore the comment. "What do you want with neechan?" I ask.

"I mean her no harm."

"What do you want with her?" I repeat.

"I merely wish to visit my daughter on her night."

"Kikyo?" Inuyasha asks, something in his eyes changing nearly imperceptibly.

The figure doesn't answer.

"Her night?" I ask.

"Her night as a full human, I assume." Sango answers for her. Kikyo nods. That doesn't exactly help me but I let it go.

"So, it's true then?" Miroku asks aloud, yet obviously not to any one of us in particular. "Inuyasha _did_ father a child by Kikyo?"

"It is true." Kikyo says, stepping from the flames. They seem to fade behind her. She looks like my mother. Well, almost. Her face is set slightly differently and her hair is styled differently. That and the Miko garments she wears and the bow on her shoulder. She looks dangerous, and no emotion shows in her eyes.

"Kikyo. . .when. . .how?" Inuyasha doesn't seem to able to finish his sentence. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because the truth would have shattered you." She says calmly.

Inuyasha looks at her in surprise.

Kikyo looks at the rest of us.

"This may not be suitable for young ears to hear."

I raise my eyebrow. "Oh, and _that_ is?" I jerk my thumb over my shoulder toward where Shoko and neechan had last been seen. (A/N: -cough- -cough- Sorry, couldn't resist. . .)

Miroku chokes.

Kikyo regards me steadily for a moment before nodding. She turns her attention back to Inuyasha.

"What happened?" Inuyasha asks her.

"I believe you would term it, 'I went into heat.'"

Everyone else seems to understand that. Before I can ask, though, a panicked look comes to Inuyasha's face and her turn and disappears.

Kikyo begins walking after him. No one else moves.

"What does that mean?" I ask, completely removed.

Miroku sighs. "It means Inuyasha's youkai instincts overtook him. He probably raped her."

I gasp. None of us say anything for the longest time. I listen intently, and from the look on Shippo's face he's listening as well, but Inuyasha is too par away.

I haven't noticed, but Shoko and neechan have been in the room for a while.

"We should go after them." Neechan says.

"Hai." I say, nodding.

Neechan doesn't answer, just grabs my wrist in one hand and Shoko's in the other, and starts running. I can hear the others behind us.

Neechan looks very determined.

By now, we're out of the castle. I can hear Inuyasha's voice again, so Seiko and Shippo probably can too.

"I'm not running away from you!" He sounds irritated. "I'm going to go see Kagome!"

I wonder if he'll wait for us if we yell.

Neechan, reading my thoughts, calls after him. "Inuyasha! Wait! Father!"

I can hear him stop. I sigh. It doesn't take us that long to catch up to him.

"Taori-chan." Seiko says softly. She puts her hands on my shoulders. "You'll take care of father, and come visit sometime, ne?"

I smile sadly and nod.

"H-hai, neechan."

"Good girl." She turns to Sango. "Slayer, the children will be returned to their village. I will see to it personally.

Sango nods.

"Sayonara."

Kikyo turns to face her. "Your time comes, daughter."

"Hai." Neechan says. "Come, we have much to catch up on."

Mother and daughter disappear into the castle.

Kirara hops down from her perch on Sango's shoulder and grows. The others climb aboard, and I climb onto Inuyasha's back.

We say very little to each other during our week long journey back to the village. There doesn't seem to be much left to say.

I get Amiya to explain to me what her mother meant by neechan's 'night as a human.'

I wonder how different from me she'll look.

We've been traveling for a while now, almost seven days. It'll be a week tomorrow, so we'll arrive in Katsuyuki's village.

After that it's only three days until we're back in the modern day.


	8. The Truth, Part 2: On A New Moon

The Family Secret

By. Tate Icasa

Chapter Eight

The Truth, Part Two: On A New Moon

Katsuyuki isn't very enthusiastic about our return. I can understand that. He's anxious for the children to be returned.

We spend the night in the village. It's a peaceful night. When I wake up the sun is just coming up. I never used to get up this early.

The moon is still up. It's a cresant and nearly gone. When I arrived here is Sengoku Jidai, it had only just been begining.

Amiya and Shoko join me at the edge of the village. We all have our things and are only waiting for the adults to join us.

Three Days Later. . .

I look back at the woods. Things are so peaceful here, in the Feudal Era. But I'm glad to be going home.

I sling my bag over my shoulder and drop down into the well. Then I'm falling through the blue starry place.

The Well on the other side is dusty. I'm about halfway out when I hear the othesr appearing, one at a time behind me.

The Shrine is nearly too small for all of us. By all of us, of course, I mean Amiya's family (including Kirara), Inuyasha, Shippo, and I.

I look outsdie the Shrine. Mom is in the kitchen.

"Ok, lets go." I sigh. I lead us into the house. "_Mom!_ I'm home!"

"Taori!" She exclaims . She rushes over and hugs me before noticing the others. "Sango, Miroku, I assume you've kept my daughter safe?"

Sango and Miroku look sheepish. Shippo jumps ups so he can be seen.

"Kagome!"

"Shippo?" Mom asks.

He grins and jumps up onto her shoulder. Mom stumbles.

"Shippo!" Mom protests. "You're _big_ now!"

He hops down. "Sorry, Kagome."

Mom turns to Inuyasha. There's a spark of mischief in her eyes.

"Kagome. . ." Inuyasha says warningly.

"Oh please? It's been fifteen years." Mom says, pouting a little

_What does she want?_ I wonder.

"Feh." He mutters, his expression softening. "They'll be gone any minute now anyway."

Mom grins triumphantly, and to my surprise, reaches up to pet Inuyasha's ears. His eyes half close.

Sango looks amused.

"Kagome. . ." Inuyasha says after a minute.

"Sorry." She says sheepishly, dropping her hands. "Here," she motions towards the living room.

We all obediently follow her and find places to sit. Sango and Miroku end up on one sofa, and Mom and Inuyasha on the other. Us kids, Shippo and Kirara end up on the floor.

It's absolutely silent. I'm almost afraid to breath.

It takes me a minute to realize that mom and Inuyasha are facing each other.

Something important is going to happen. I can feel it in the air.

"I'm sorry, Kagome." Inuyasha says softly.

"Sorry?" Mom asks, "For what?"

Inuyasha repeats for her what Kikyo had said.

"I know." Mom says. "I have these flashes sometimes. . .memories f her life."

"You're not mad?" he asks.

"Why should I be mad?" She shrugs. "It's not like it was a conscious decision."

"And. . .you're not afraid?" We must all be able to hear the unspoken end of that thought. '_Of me?_'

"I could never be afraid of you, Inuyasha." (A/N: Insert shimmer-eyes here.)

"Kagome. . ." he pulls her into a hug. He's trembling.

Mom begins stroking his hair. And slowly the silver hair and dog ears seem to fall out and fade away.

I panic. I jump up and start running.

The full impact of everything that had happened has just finally hit me. My whole life until this last month has been a lie.

I jump into the well and climb out the other side, into Sengoku Jidai. I rip the vines as best I can, hoping to slow them down when they come after me.

I run into the forest, picking a direction at random. None of them should be able to catch me now. Not for a while anyway. I run until I can barely breath.

I look around. I don't know where I am. That's ok, I"m not planning on going back.

I listen intently for a moment, until I can locate a stream nearby. It doesn't take that long to reach it, and by that time I'm nearly unable to move.

I kneel and scoop water into my mouth. It's a fairly quick stream, so the water is pure enough to drink.

When I finish I wade out as far as I can and let the stream carry me. I don't know where I'm going. I don't care, either. I just need to get away.


	9. Confrontation

The Family Secret

By. Tate Icasa

Chapter Nine

Confrontation

I've been traveling for a day and a half now. I travel through the center of the stream most of the time. But for a while I've come out of the water to get some food. I've been out of the water long enough to be dry.

I wander through the woods, not too far from the stream. I've found a berry bush, so I'm just lazing around, virtually half asleep.

Suddenly, I sense a strong demonic aura. I stretch my senses and notice a second, much weaker, presense as well. Both are quite far away. I'm amazed I picked them up. I wonder. . .

I decide to test my power and see if I can completely pinpoint both presenses. I'm so intent on this that I don't notic Inuyasha until he drops down from the tree's behind me.

I turn.

"There you are." He says. "You had us all so worried." He takes a step towards me.

I whip an arrow out and hold it in front of me. "Stay back."

"Taori?" Another step.

"Stay away!" I'm panicking, and I can feel myself getting angrier. He doesn't listen to me.

He grabs me by the arm. "Get away from me you half-human rapist!"

He freezes and I pull away, shaking my wrist. I can see the shock in his eyes.

I've hurt him.

But at this point I'm beyond caring.

He'll recover soon enough. I have to get away.

I turn and start to run, jumping into the stream to help mask my scent so he can't follow me. The water is freezing, but I barely notice.

I swim with the current, going as fast as I can.

When I can barely move I let myself float.

What I haven't thought of is that the sun is setting. Before I realize it, my eyes are drooping shut. I sink under the water, blackness cover my view.


	10. What Happens Again

The Family Secret

By. Tate Icasa

Chapter Ten

What Happens Again

I'm woken by something poking me hard in the side. I can feel sand underneath me. I must have washed ashore before drowning. I moan and sit up, opening my eyes.

A green toad-like creature jumps backwards away from me. "Ahhh! It's alive!" It trips over a rock and lands on it's back with an undignified squawk.

I laugh.

The creature gets up and glares at me, so I stop laughing. I recognize it's aura as that of one of the two presenses I sensed yesterday. I check, and ralize that the stronger presesence is nearby. I stand up and begin to walk.

"I should be going now. . ."

I've barely taken two steps when an icy voice orders me to stop. I don't know why I obey, but something in that voice tells me it'd be a bad idea not to. I turn slowly.

The owner of the voice is a very tall man with silver-white hair and gold eyes. He frightens me.

"Come and be silent." he says, no emotion showing on his face. He turns and begins to walk

I trail after, the toad-creature behind me, making sure I don't try to run.

After a while, we reach a clearing. I end up with my wrists and ankles bound and tied to tree.

I discover things bit by bit. Not very much is clear to me at this point.

But I understand enough.

It's happened again.

I've been kidnaped.

A different person this time. A different motive. This one not as benevolent as neechan.

And yet both instances are the same. Both have that one thing in common.

In both instances, I'm bait.

It's a pure and simple fact. I'm bait for him again.

Twice, I've been caputured.

Twice, I've been held as bait for Inuyasha. Bait for my father.


	11. First Encounter

The Family Secret

By. Tate Icasa

Chapter Eleven

First Encounter

(A/n1: Kagome9854 arigato for pointing out to me something I forgot to mention. All I've seen of the show is my best friends First Season DVD's. So that's all this is based on. So, Rin dun exist, and any other inconsistancies with the show as of now are proably due to this fact.)

(A/n2: For those of you who didn't figure out who the tall man is (-cough-bakas-cough- ) that would be Sess. (Um, _duh_). And Taori knows that, and that he's her uncle and vice-versa, but I'm too lazy to write out that conversation, so. . .here's the chappie)

"He won't come for me, you know." I say after about a day.

Sesshomaru doesn't respond.

I sigh. "How long are you going to keep me tied up like this?"

Again, no response.

_This is pointless_. I think for the eighty-jillionth time. Then I get an idea.

"I assume you neep me alive to use me as bait!" I call in a sing-song voice. "If you don't answer me, I'm gonna hit my head against this tree until I kill myself."

For a second I think I've got his attention. Then, "Inuyasha will come whether you are alive or dead. It makes no difference to me."

I sigh. That didn't go so well. I lean against the tree and close my eyes.

"Will you let me go yet?" I ask, not expecting an anser. I haven't even opened my eyes yet.

Instead of silence, I hear Sesshomaru move.

"Ow! Hey!" I yell when the rope goes taut around my neck. "Lemme go!" My eyes snap open.

The toad-creature is standing behind me, holding the ends of the rope.

I'm liking this arrangement less and less.

"Lemme go!" I yell again.

The rope tightens.

I decide to be silent and the rope loosens again.

I listen and can hear him. Inuyasha's coming.

"Sesshomaru!" I can see him now, hand on his sword hilt, and boy does he look mad. "If you've harmed so much as one hair on my daughters head. . ."

"The girl is unharmed." Sesshomaru cuts in.

Inuyasha notices me.

"Taori!"

I manage a weak smile.

"Let her go!" Inuyasha snarls.

"First, the Fang."

"What?" Inuyasha falters.

"Give me the Fang and the girl will live."

"You can't even hold it!"

"Kill her." Sesshomaru says calmly, not even bothering to turn.

The rope tightens. Involunarily, I cry out.

"Stop." It's one of the saddest things I've ever seen. He takes the sword and tosses it to the ground at Sesshomaru's feet. "Now let her go."

"You honestly believed I would let the girl live? You fool. She will die. As will you."

He begins to draw one of his swords, and that's when I loose consciousness diu to lack of oxygen.


	12. Nightmares and Messangers

The Family Secret

By. Tate Icasa

(A/n: I am changing my incorrect spellings of hanyou and youkai to the spellings used at the official inuyasha website. Sorry if I'm confusing anybody. Oh, and to all my reviewers, I'm not neglecting you purposefully, this computer was being a bitch and wouldn't let me check my email for almost a month now. I hate this thing. Anyhow, I luv u guys!)

Chapter Twelve

Nightmares and Messagers

"Kami-sama. . ." I moan, touching my head gingerly.

"Hey, kid, you ok?"

I know that voice.

"Neechan?" I open my eyes. Kneeling beside me is Seiko.

"Taori-chan." She says fondly. "Are you ok?"

"Uh. . .yeah. I'm fine." I roll onto my side and sit up. "Where's dad?"

She motions toward a wall. Inuyasha is laying with his back to it, eyes closed and completely human. I look questioningly at Seiko.

Before she can say anyting, he opens his eyes.

"Otou-san!"

He looks over at us and sits up. "Taori? Seiko?"

I wave.

"Hey! Why am I human?" Inuyasha asks suddenly, looking at his hands, then back to us.

"The spell I used to save you made you that way." Seiko says. "Don't worry, the effect should be temporary."

"Oh, yeah? And how long is 'temporary'?"

"I have no idea." Seiko says calmly. "I've never used the spell on a han'yo before. Come on. If we hurry we can make it to the castle before sundow." She pauses. "Oh, and father, the tetsusaiga is back in it's sheath.

Inuyashaa's hands instantly go to the sword. "Thanks."

I look at neechan. "Lead the way."

The castle hasn't changed all that much. Neechan gives me my old room. She gives Inuyasha the room across the hall.

After she leaves, I idly pick up one of the scrolls on the wall. It doesn't look remotely interesting, so I set it down again.

I sigh and drop onto the bed, falling into one of the most restless sleeps I've ever had.

_**Dream Sequence**_

_I'm running._

_I don't know what I'm running away from. I hear a sound like a twig snapping behind me, and dodge behind a tree, breathing hard._

"_It's coming." The words are out of my mouth before my mind registers the thought._

_But I can sense the truth in them._

_Another twig snaps, this time closer._

_**End Dream Sequence**_

I sit up, wide eyed. My breathing is shallow.

I look around and sigh. _It seemed so real._ I think. _I need to clear my head._

I quiently slip out the window and onto the dew soaked grass. It feels nice to be out suring the sunrise.

Wait. Sunrise?

I must have slept longer than I thought.

I kneel and scoop water into my hands, then splash some on my face. The water calms me.

"What are you doing out here so early?" Says a voice behind me.

I spin, then sigh when I see that it's just Inuyasha.

"I'm sitting." I say, raising an eyebrow. "How about you?"

He doesn't answer.

"Will you sit down?"

He sits. I glance over at him and gasp. A second ago he was fully human, now he's slowly changing back. I shake my head.

"I"m sorry."

He blinks.

"For what I said at the river." I clarify. "I didn't mean that. I'm sorry."

He nods.

"Is this why you never told me?"

He looks surprised. "Nani?"

I shake my head. "Never mind." I yawn and lean back, closing my eyes.

_**Dream Sequence**_

_I'm running again._

_Whatever it is, it's coming for me. I can't sense it, not at all._

_My heart is beating madly, and I can bearely breath. I duck behind a tree, pressing my back against it. I'm sure my heartbeat is going to give me away. Involunarily, a tiny whimper escapes my throat._

_Something grabs my shoulder. I turn, and. . ._

_**End Dream Sequence**_

My eyes snap open.

"Taori?"

It hasn't been that long this time. The sun hasn't even finished rising. Inuyasha is looking down at me.

"H-hai, Otou-san?"

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." I sit up, blinking. "Just a bad dream. That's all."

He nods.

Seiko enters the garden, a tiny bird on her shoulder.

"Father, Taori-chan." She acknowledges.

I smile brightly at her.

"This is Kitiyami." Seiko says, looking at the brid. "She serves basically the same purpose as your friends two-tail."

"Kirara?" I ask.

"Hai. However, through the years, Kitiyam and I have become mentally linked. Bonded. I hear her thought, and she hears mine."

"Like telepathy." I insert.

"Te-le-pa-thy?" Seiko asks. I can see her face change as she read the definition from my mind. "Yes, like that."

"So you can talk to each other?" Inuyasha asks.

"Kitiyami is my messager." Seiko says.

"So I assume there's a message."

"Your friends come. They will arive in three days." She smiles faintly. "Taori-chan, would you like to continue your lessons?"

"Hai, neechan." Would I ever.

Seiko nods. "Then go change and meet father and I at the training grounds.

I scurry to obey.

My Miko garments lie on the bed, ready. I change quickly.

I'm amazed at how comfortable I am in them.

My eyes slowly drift shut and I lean forward tiredly.


	13. The Begining

The Family Secret

By. Tate Icasa

Chapter Thirteen

The begining

(A/n: Parts of the story, for the sake of the story, will now be told out of Taori's POV. ' ' will act as a dividing line between the two POV's.)

_**Dream Sequence**_

_I stumble and fall. My face scrapes the ground._

_I struggle to me feet and try to run again, but my legs won't hold me anymore._

_I lay on the ground, panting. My heartbeat is tunder, but I can still hear It approaching._

Kami-sama, it's here. . .

_I realize that I actually _can_ sense it. I can tell that it's near. But I can't tell what it is, or where. I know nothing about it, except that it's here._

Crunch. Crunch.

_It stops. It's right there._

_I try to turn, just to see it, but I can't move. I realize that I have my eyes closed. I try, but I can't open them._

_Something cold touches my eyelids. It sends shivers down my spine. I can feel myself changing. It makes me feel sick._

_I try to struggle but I can._

"_Taori!"_

_I can't respond._

"_Taori!"_

_The coldness leaves. I fell stiff, and I don't try to move._

"Taori!_"_

I'm coming, neechan.

"Taori!"

_**End Dream Sequence**_

"_Taori!_"

I moan and open my eyes a slit.

Neechan and Inuyasha are staring down at me worriedly.

"Taori-chan? Are you alright?"

I nod weakly. "H-hai, neechan. What happened?"

"I'm not exactly sure. You didn't show up for training. We found you asleep you wouldn't wake up, Taori-chan."

"It's been sixteen hours."

"S-sixteen?" I open my eyes all the way. Things look clearer than they used to.

Neechan and Inuyasha step back, identical startled looks on thier faces.

"What?" I ask.

Neechan picks up a mirror from a shelf and hands it to me. I look at it curiously.

"My eyes have changed color." I say, awed.

Instead of their normal chocolate color, my eyes are gold. Not as bright as Inuyasha's, not even as bright ask Seiko's, but still gold.

"Why?" I ask.

Seiko shrugs. "Perhaps. . .no, that couldn't be. . ."

"What?" Inuyasha asks.

"I was born human. My demon traits came out around the time I was four years old. Okaa-san raised me as long as I remained human, but I did know about my demon quater. Perhaps. . ."

"_What?_" I shriek.

"There is _one_ way to be certain." Seiko says hesitantly.

I'm sitting cross legged. Neechan is behind me, her hands on my temples. Inuyasha is watching from the other side of the room.

"Now, close your eyes." Neechan says.

I obey instantly.

(A/n: From now on, sections in italics represent Taori's mind.)

_I'm still laying on the ground._

"_Neechan?"_

"_Hai, Taori-chan, can you move?"_

"_Yeah." I sit up and look around. "Is It here?" I ask suddenly, frightened._

_Neechan shrugs. "I don't know."_

"_It _is_." I say, sensing it suddenly. "It's _coming_."_

_I jup to my feet, looking around wildly. It won't do me any good to run _to_ It._

_I hear it, and I'm running instantly, Neechan behind me._

Taori and Seiko had been 'asleep' for two days.

Inuyasha had tried, unsuccessfully to wake them.

At the moment, he's sitting outside, waithing for the others. The second Kirara has landed he's standing next to her.

"Inuyasha? Where's Taori?" Kagome asks.

"Inside. Come on, I think she's in trouble."

The follow him inside.

"They appear to be in a deep state of meditation." Miroku says. "How long hav ethey been like this?"

"Two days."

"Two _days?_ And you haven't woken them?" Shippo asks.

"I doubt even Inuyasha could wake them now."

Inuyasha takes a while to explain what happened. When he finishes, Miroku nods.

"I . . . see." he says. "Then they cannot be woken by ordinary means."

"Why not?" Kagome asks.

"Because I believe they are trapped in Taori's mind."

"Can we untrap them?" Amiya asks. (A/n: Untrap? Is that even a word?)

"I don't know. Perhaps. It could be risky, though."

"Let's try it." growls Inuyasha. Kagome and Sango nod.

"As you wish."

_I press myself agains the rock, breathing hard. Neechan is beside me. I close my eyes and try to regulate my heartbeat._

"_Neechan?" I whisper._

"_Hai, Taori-chan?"_

"_What is It?"_

"_I do not know. Perhaps it is your Demonic Quarter."_

"_Great," I say sarcastically. Before I can say more something cold wraps around my wrist. I scream._

_Or I try to, anyway. I find again that I am paraliyzed._

_It's a frightenening sensation, changing._

_The second I can move again I look at my hand. Not full claws like Inuyasha's, but definately sharper than human nails. I flex my hand once._

"_It's gone." I say, realizing that It's presesnse is completely gone, vanished._

"_How long until it returns?" Neechan asks._

_I shake my ehad. "I wish I knew. Come on, let's move."_

_Neechan nods and we start ot walk._


	14. Following

The Family Secret

By. Tate Icasa

Chapter Fourteen

Following

"One of us should probably stay, in case somthing goes wrong." Miroku says.

Sango nods.

"I'll stay." Shoko says steadily, aging two months in the process.

Miroku hesitates a second, then nods.

_I sense It suddenly._

"_It's coming." I whisper to Seiko._

_She nods and we begin to run._

Miroku is seated behind Seiko. Sango behind him, then Kagome, Inuyasha, Shippo, and Amiya.

"Ready?" he asks.

The others place thier hands upon the temple of the person in front of them.

Miroku nods and does the same.

_The blink and look around._

"_It's a forest." Aamiya says finally._

"_Inuyasha, can you find Taori?" Miroku asks._

"_That way." Inuyasha says after a minute, pointing._

"_Lets _go_ then." Shippo says, running ahead._

_I stumble, and grab a tree to stop from falling._

_My hand misses the tree though._

_I hit the ground and roll, hard._

_I'm paraliyzed again, I realize, and blind._

_I can feel the Coldness wrap around my other wrist. It doesn't surprise me to feel it change this time._

_Soon enough, it disappears, and I get up._

"_Neechan?" I ask, helping her up._

"_I didn't see it."_

_I nod. "Let's go."_

_Inuyasha stops, a confused look on his face._

"_What is it?" Kagome asks._

"_This makes no sense. She went. . .both ways?"_

"_Huh?"_

"_Her scent. It goes in two directions." He points._

"_Then we should split up." Miroku suggests._

_Kagome nods. "Sanga, Miroku, take Shippo with you. Amiya can come with Inuyasha and I."_

"_Why?" Amiya asks._

"_Because Shippo is a Kitsune, so he can follow Taori's scent like Inuyasha can."_

"_Oh."_

"_Ok, guys, come on!" Shippos says. He leads Sango and Miroko away._

_After they've gone, Kagome climbs onto Inuyasha's back._

"_We can travel faster this way." he says, looking at Amiya. She shrugs and climbs up next to Kagome._

_Inuyasha begins to run._

_I sit down with my back against a tree._

"_Taori-chan?" Neechan asks._

_I shake my head. "It's nothing. I'm must tired."_

"_How long until the creature returns?"_

_I close my eyes and stretch my snese._

"_Something's coming, but. . . it isn't the creature." I concentrate, and so I don't notice It's approach until the Coldness enwraps my head._

Shoko nearly jumps out of his skin when Taori moves.

He glances at her sharply, before blinking in confusion. Her normal ears had disappeared, and dog ears not unlike Inuyasha's (but black) were growing from the top of her head.

He takes a cautious step towards her.

_The Coldness leaves, but It's presense doesn't. I look around warily. Neechan lies on the ground a few feet away._

"_Neechan?"_

_She doesn't move. I start to worry._

_My pretty new ears twitch at a sound behind me. Suddenly clawed hands dig into them._

_I scream, both in pain and surprsie. My head is jerked back. I can see my vision swimming, before I pass out, due to both my ears being yeanked, and my head hitting the tree._

Shoko jumps back as Taori screams. Her eyes shoot open, flashing. Shoko watches her warily and tips his head.

Taor jumps to her feet, leaving the others behind her.

Without even acknowleding his presense, she rushes past Shoko and out of the castle.

He turns, thinking to follow her, but something pulls him back. While the others stir and wake, Seiko merely sits, her hands limp hin her lap, eyes closed.

He knees and pokes her, but she simply tips over.

"Seiko!"

He picks her up a bit, but she doesn't respond at all. Hurriedly, he checks her for a pluse. It's weak, but steady.

He naps twice, getting his father's attention.

Miroku takes one look at her and frows. "It is as if she didn't come out of meditation wit the rest of us."

"But the link was broken!" Amiya protests.

"Ture, however, I've never seen athink like this before." Miroku says. "It's possible that she's still inside Taori."

"Where is Taori, anyway?" Shippo asks.

Shoko points wordlessly. Then he begins signing.

"Shoko's right." Sango says. "If Seiko is with child then this could injure both."

"I'm going after Taori." Inuyasha says. "Are you coming, Kagome?"

Kagome nods and climbs onto his back.

"Miroku and I are coming with you as well." Sango says.

"We are?" Miroku asks, startled.

"Yes, we are." Sango says firmly. "Kirara!"

A confirming roar sounds throug hthe room, and a large Kirara is seen in the gard out the window.

Inuyasha nods and he and Kagome disappear. Miroku and Sango go out into the garden.

"He! Sango! I wanna come with you too!" Shippo calls, jumping onto the window fram.

"Why don't you and Amiya follow us on foot?" Miroku suggests.

"Ok!" He turns. "Shokoj, you stay here in cas she wakes up." Without waiting for an answer, he practically drags Amiya from the room.

Shoko nods.

Seiko lies still, limp and plae, on her side on the wooden floor. Her eyes are still closed, her legs still folded, and her hair partially covers her face, nearly masking the stange motions of her face.


	15. The Stirrings of Trouble

The Family Secret

By. Tate Icasa

Chapter Fifteen

The Stirrings of Trouble

_I mean and roll over. Instantly, my hands go to my soft new ears. I open my eyes. The clearness of what I can see now no longer surprises me._

_I glace around._

_Seiko is laying unconscious a couple of feet away._

_I sit up and nudge her._

"_Hey, neechan." I whisper._

"_Taori-chan? What happened?"_

_I shrug. Something. . .grabbed me from behind. . .knocked me out. . ."_

_Seiko sits up. "Where are we?"_

"_I dunno. I just woke up."_

_I hear a sound behind me. My ears flatten to my head as I spin._

"_Calm down. I can't kill you here." A voice says, sounding amused._

_I don't relax._

"_Who are you?" I call._

"_Taori-chan, who are you talking to?" Seiko ask._

_The voice laughs ominously._

"_You mean you don't hear it?" I ask, confused._

"_She does not belong. She cannot perceive me." The voice says. I look around warily. "Even you can barely perceive me."_

_I feel a chill, and realize that it's presense is suddenly gone._

"_Where _are_ you?" I ask. But I know I won't get a response. "Where are _we?_" _

"_Close your eyes." The voice says suddenly, making me jump._ _"Close your eyes and I will show you."_

_Seiko is looking at me strangely._

_However, I shrug and close my eyes._

My eyes open.

I'm running through a field. I can smell smoke behind me.

I turn. Smoke and flames seep from the village behind me. I think it's Katsuyuki's village.

Groups of people are gathered at the edge of the village, glaring after me.

I gasp.

_A tingling warmth leave my eyes._

"_What happened to the village?" I ask._

"_It was burned." The voice says. _

"_By a young, uncontrolled han'yo child. Namely, you."_

"Miroku, look down there." Sango says, pointing.

"That's Katsuyuki's village." Miroku says.

"Kirara!"

"I wonder what happened." Miroku says as they land.

"We'll find out." Sango says, jumping to the ground. Miroku follows her. "Katsuyuki! What happened here?"

"_You!_" Katsuyki exclaims. "How _dare_ you show your face here!"

Sango blinks. "Nani?"

"_You _brought the demon here!" He yells accusingly. "I saw her traveling with you!"

"You mean Taori?" Miroku asks. "She was here?"

"Damn you! She burned the village!"

"Taori did? Are you certain?"

"Hai! Of course I'm certain!"

"Which way did she go?"

Katsuyuki crosses his arms.

"We can find her without his help." Sango says, leading Miroku away.

Kagome and Inuyasha stare at the village. Or what's left of it. Not one building is whole.

Most of the villagers are gathered somewhere out of sight. But one group of children stand in the center of the village.

There can't be more than six of them, ages ranging from seven to twelve.

Kagome points to one. "Isn't that the little girl from Seiko's?"

The girl glances over at them.

Before Inuyasha can respond, the girl is standing in front of them.

"You are Seiko-sama no otou-san, ne?" She asks, looking up at Inuyasha.

He nods slowly and lets Kagome down.

The girl smiles. "I told them it was you!"

"Little girl?" Kagome interrupts.

"_You _are Seiko-sama no neechan no Okaa-san, ne?" Mother of the sister of Seiko's sister.

Kagome blinks. "Hai. You know Taori? Do you know where she is?"

"Come on, you gotta meet the others!" The girl says, running back to the group.

Kagome shrugs and follows, Inuyasha beside her.

Shippo and Amiya have avoided the vallage altogether and are following Taori's trail. (How they managed that _and_ avoiding the village I dunno.)

Shippo stops suddenly.

"What is it?" Amiya asks.

"I _lost_ her!"

"What?"

"I lost her scent." He shakes his head.

"Shippo, look!" Amiya says, pointing.

Something moves in the treetops.

Shippo tips his head.

"What is it?" Amiya asks.

"I don't know. I _think_ it might be Taori."

The treeptops move again.

"Taori?" Amiya calls.

Something drops down behind them.

Before either of them can react, something hits them both in the back of the head.


	16. Bars of Our Own Design

The Family Secret

By. Tate Icasa

Chapter Sixteen

Bars of Our Own Design

"_What do you mean, me?" I gasp._

_But again, the presense is gone._

_Seiko taps my shoulder and I jump._

"_There's no one her, Taori-chan." she says._

_I nod slowly. Then I look around._

_We're in a clearing. It appears to be the middle of spring. Flowers are blooming. But besides that there is no life. There are no birds, there are no fish in the clear stream._

_I lean over and look at myself._

_I look kind of like dad. My eyes are the same color, if a little lighter. I have ears like his too, except mine are jet black, like my hair. My teeth are pointed, not fangs, but not normal teeth either. Kind of like my claws. . .er, hands._

_I blind slowly and look back at Seiko._

_She has eyes almost identical to dads, but she has human ears. Her hair is the same style as his, and black, except for two streaks of silver near the front. She has real fangs, and human hands._

"_Neechan?"_

_She cocks her head._

"_Can we _leave_?" I ask._

"_I . . . I don't see why not." She says thoughtfully. "Just close your eyes and concentrate."_

_I nod and close me eyes._

_Nothing happens._

"_It didn't work." I say. "How about you, neechan, can you get out?"_

"_No." She says, without hesitation. "We are no longer in contact with my body, so I cannot return to it."_

"_Is that safe?"_

"_I don't know. I highly doubt it."_

_I grimace. _

"_Neechan, what _exactly_ happened, before we were here?" I ask._

_She looks thoughtful. "I was watching you. Your eyes were closed, you were looking for the creature. Your human eyes disappeared. . .ears like fathers grew from your head. I wasn't sure if you were conscious or not, you didn't respond when I called your name." She frowns. "I checked your pulse. Something cold touched the back of my neck._" _She shakes her head. "And then you were waking me up."_

"_Turn around." I say nervously._

"_Taori-chan?"_

"_I'm just curious." I say._

_She shrugs and turns._

_I lift the hair from the back of her neck and drop it almost instantly, backing away._

_She has a mark there. A single line, tattoo-like and blue, from the bottom of her hairline to the top of her spine, and thin as a strand of hair._

"_What is it, Taori-chan?"_

_I describe the mark to her._

_She frowns._

"_What does it mean?" I ask._

"_I don't know." She says. "Come, let us try to find another way out."_

_I nod and begin to walk, merely in a straight line. I'm following the stream, mainly._

_I can see the edge of the clearing. The stream runs into a forest. I look at the edge of the forest and realize that it curves around the clearing, each tree evenly spaced from the nest, like the bars of a cage._

_I glance back at Seiko, then place my palm on the trunk of one of the trees._

_To my surprise, it's smooth._

_I move to circle the tree, and am stopped by a barrier. _

_I back up, then put my hand on the barrier, so it becomes visible._ _It stretches between the trees. I move my hand away._

"_It looks like we're stuck here." Seiko syas._

_I nod. Then I sense the creatures presense._

"_It's here." I whisper. "Show yourself!" I call._

"_I think not." The voice says._

"_Release us!"_

"_Oh, I can't do that." It says. "I helped to create the barrier, but it is of your design. Only _you_, Taori Higurashi, can break it."_

"_Well how do I do _that_!"_

"_You will know. Until then, I remain in possession of your body."_

"_Well, that raises more questions than it answers." I mutter._

_The presense disappears. I stop my foot._

"_Taori-chan?"_

_I wave my hand. "It's nothing."_

_She nods, but doesn't look convinced._

_I reach out and touch the tree again. This time I can see it's image waver._

"_Let's see if we can find another way out."_

_Seiko nods and we begin to walk along the treeline._


	17. The Children of Seiko

The Family Secret

By. Tate Icasa

Chapter Seventeen

The Children of Seiko

"Halt!" Katsuyuki yells angrily as Sango and Miroku begin to walk away.

They ignore hiim.

"They led the demon to us!" Another voice calls.

"Get them!" Yells another.

Sango clances back.

"Miroku, run!" Sango says urgently.

The villagers, angry villagers (Can anyone say 'mob with pitchforks and torches'?), chase after them.

The girl points at the other children.

"That's Tatsuya, Megumi, Sakuma, Tomoyuki, and Yotai. And I'm Eiji." She says. "I _told_ you it was them." She says to the others.

"Eiji, why are you children seperated from the other villagers?"

"Two reasons." Tatsuya says. "One, we're the children of Seiko. We wanna help you."

"And the second reason?" Kagome asks, curious.

Sakuma points over his shoulder.

"The other villagers are mad at you."

(Close up of Sango and Miroku running from an angry mob.)

"_They_ say you brought the demon with you." Yotai inserts.

"Taori-san isn't _bad_." Megumi says. "We were friends. She wouldn't hurt us."

"We think Taori-san has been possessed by an evil spirit." Eiji clarifies. "We're gonna find her and excorsise it."

"No way." Inuyasha says firmly. "No bunch of kids is gonna. . ."

The mob gets close enough for them to all see.

"Well that's just great." Inuyasha says, waving his hand.

"Come." Eiji says calmly. "I will take you to a safe place."

"What about Sango and Miroku?" Kagome asks.

Eiji smiles. "Oh, don't worry. Tatsuya and Sakuma will make sure they meet us there. Come on!"

She strides off purposefully, and Kagome and Inuyasha follow.

"I don't like this, Miroku." Sango says, hiding behind a building.

"Me, neither." Before he can say more, some one pulls on his sleeve. He jumps a bit before noticing that it's only a child.

"Excuse me? You are friends f Seiko-sama, ne?" The boy asks.

Miroku nods warily.

"Then come with us." The girl says.

"Where?" Sango asks.

The children exchange a glance.

"There's no _time._" The girl says.

"You gotta come _now._" Says the boy. He grabs Miroku by the sleeve and starts to drag him away. The girl does the same to Sango.

Eiji points to a cave.

"It's safe inside." She says, "Go ahead."

"What about you?" Kagome asks.

"I'll be fine. Seiko-sama's Gift will protect me." She pushes Kagome toward the cave.

"Oh, come on." Inuyasha says, dragging Kagome into the cave.

Kagome frowns.

"I wonder what she meant by Seiko's 'Gift'?" She asks.

"I dunno. Do you sense anything?"

Kagome closes her eyes for a second.

"No, not really. I mean, there's something. . .different about them, but I can't put my finger on it."

Tatsuya and Sakuma drag Sango and Miroku into the cave. Sango and Miroku seem out of breath, but the children stand calmly. The other children enter the cave.

"They can't find us here." Eiji says.

"Why not?" Sango asks.

"We dunno. It's Seiko-sama's magic." Tatsuya answers.

"Come on." Eiji says, waving. "The caves go back to Seiko-sama's castle. We'll be safe there."

"Are you certain of that?" Miroku asks.

"Sure. It's Seiko-sama's castle." She smiles. "Come on, it's this way."

After they'd been walking a while, Eiji pauses and turns.

"We can rest for a while here. None of the others could follow us this far." She says.

"Eiji, you said before that you were. . .Seiko's children?" Kagome asks.

"Well, yeah." Eiji shrugs.

"It's true enough, even if we aren't really her children. She is our mother."

"How does that make sense?"

"It doesn't." Sango says.

"It does." Megumi corrects. "Without Seiko-sama, we would all be dead."

"Oh, really?"

"Hai. Seiko-sama gave us life. And in doing so, she gave us her Gift."

"You said that before." Kagome says. "What does it mean?"

Eiji smiles. "Come. Sit. It may take a while to explain.

The four exchange glances and sit.


	18. The Truth Behind Seiko's Gift

The Family Secret

By. Tate Icasa

Chapter Eighteen

The Truth Behind Seiko's Gift

"Let's see, when the demons came to take us from the village. I was frightened. The demons captured me, three of them, large insect demons. But when I woke up, Seiko-sama was there. She said the demons had poisoned me. I thought I was gonna die."

"But Seiko-sama said she could help." Sakuma says. "She said she could make the poison go away."

Tatsuya smiled. "She said she'd share her blood with me. She said it would draw the poison into her, and she could get rid of it. So I let her."

"She cut my arm." Eiji says, rolling up one sleeve to show a thin scar along her forearm. "Here." She traces the scar with her finger. "She cut her arm the same way, and held the two wounds together."

"Our blood mixed." Tomoyuki says. "I got stronger, but Seiko-sama grew weaker. We both slept."

"When I woke, Seiko-sama was there." Yotai says. "She said her blood gave us a Gift."

"So now we're special." Eiji says. She grins. "You get in?"

"Um, no, not really." Kagome says.

Miroku and Sango look just as confused. Inuyasha doesn't.

"You understand though, don't you Inuyasha-san?" Eiji asks. "Can you tell them so they'll get it?"

"Seiko transferred her yokai blood into them." Inuyasha growls angrily.

"Well, that explains why they feel different." Kagome says.

Inuyasha stands abruptly. "Come on, lets move."

"_Neechan? Why did you _really_ that all the children from the village?" I ask._

"_I told you. To lure Otou-san."_

"_That isn't the only reason, though."_

"_No." She admits. "It isn't."_

"_Well, then, what was the other?"_

"_To drain the yokai blood from myself."_

"_Why?" I ask. "How?"_

"_So Okaa-san will accept me." She frowns. "And I give it to them through my blood."_

"_You turned all those little kids into part-demons!" I gasp._

"_Never enough to change them. Just enough to make them stronger. That's why I needed so many."_

"_But. . .that's _horrible_."_

"_No it isn't. I was going to send them all back together. And when they were back I'd take the teens. Then the adults. I would have made the whole village better."_

"_Better? By making them all part-demons? I don't believe it."_

"_Taori-chan. It _would_ have been better."_

"_But. . .you were going to change what they _were. . ._what they _are._"_

"_Not without permission. I asked the children. I would have asked the others as well."_

"_And if they refused?"_

"_By the time I got to those who'd understand what I was asking, I wouldn't have enough yokai blood in me for them to sense."_

_Suddenly, I sense the creature._

"_Come out!" I yell._

_The creature ignores me._

"_I can feel it." Seiko says._

_My ears twitch. That surprises me._

"_Seiko, you can do as you say?"_

"_I already have, to six children."_

"_If I return you to your body, can you do that for me?"_

"_Who are you?"_

"_Can you?"_

"_Perhaps. Who are you?"_

"_Taori Higurashi, you will soon be free." Then it's gone again._

"_Come on." I sigh. "I want to find a way out of here."_


	19. Cages

The Family Secret

By. Tate Icasa

Chapter Twenty

Released

The door swings open.

Shippo and Amiya step out, blinking.

"It's really bright." Amiya says.

"Hey, Inuyasha, I think you should see this" Shippo says, glancing back into the room.

Inuyasha follows his gave.

"Taori?" He exclaims.

"_Not_ Taori." Amiya and Kagome say together.

Inuyasha looks at them.

"Shippo and I think she's like Seiko."

Eiji feels the girls wrist for a pulse.

"She has. . .pieces of the Blood in her." She says finally.

"But she has no Gift!"

"How can you tell?" Kagome asks.

"Do _you_ sense the Gift in her?" Tatsuya challenges.

Kagome frowns. "She has no demonic aura.

Eiji motions to the other children and they begin to move the girl.

_I press my head against the barrier._

_I can hear it humming softly._

"_Seiko." The voice says._

_I can hear her look up, startled._

"_Nani?" She asks._

"_Tell your sister to come away from the barrier."_

"_Taori-chan?" Seiko suggests._

_I frown and take a step back._

_The barrier glows for a second, and seems to fall away._

"_Taori Higurashi, I need you to do me huge favor, so I'm helping you lower the barrier. Temporarily of course._"

"_Of course." I mutter._

"_You will find Seiko's body."_

"_Wait!" I shout._

_There is no reply, then, a loud booming sound._

I look around.

I'm standing outside Seiko's castle.

'Find Seiko's body.'

I look around again. The gate is open. I step inside, and stretch my sense.

Some of the village children are here. So's Amiya's family. And Shippo. And my parents.

I count them. Then I single out Shoko.

He'll be with Seiko for sure.

I start to walk.

Inuyasha's ears twitch.

"Taori-san is here." The Children say in eerie unision.

"She goes to Seiko-sama." Tatsuya says.

"She is not herself." Eiji says.

Sango's eyes widen. "You mean she's possessed."

"No." The children say in unison. "Bewitched."

"Damn." Inuyasha mutters, taking off down the corridor.

The others follow hurriedly.

I stride purposefully into the room.

Shoko is sitting with Seiko's head in his lap. He's running his hands through her hair.

"Shoko." I say, more sharply than I intended to.

He looks up quickly.

"Move away from her." I say.

He does so, with obvious reluctance. Why does that bother me?

I frown and kneel next to Seiko.

'Your hands on her temples.'

I do as the voice commands.

I can feel the pulse of Weiko leaving my mind.

She moans lightly, and Shoko is by her side instantly. I frown. That bothers me too.

"Taori-chan. . ." Seiko murmurs. " . . .Arigato."

I smile. "Douitashimashite."You're welcome.

'Find my body.'

"How?" I ask out loud.

Shoko looks at me. Seiko smiles slightly. She understands.

'It is by the dungeon.'

I nod and begin to walk.

"Taori!" That's dads voice.

"Otou-san." I acknowledge as I pass him and the others.

'Sleep now.' Says the voice.

"I don't want to sleep.' I say softly. Dad and Shippo hear me.

"Taori?"

'Sleep NOW!'

I hear the booming noise.

_The barrier is back up._

"_Lemme go!" I yell, slamming against it. I'm thrown back. I stamp my foot._

"_I will find my body myself, with no interference from the others."_

"_Do you have a name I can call you by?" I ask, after a minute._

_The presense seems to consider this. "My name is Miyanu."_

"_Miyanu." I repeat. "Will you show yourself yet?"_

"_I might as well. You will see my body soon enough."_

_The barrier seems to part as she steps in._The Family Secret

By. Tate Icasa

Chapter Nineteen

Cages

Shippo wakes first.

"Amiya, get up." he says, shaking her.

"What hit me?" Amiya asks, sitting up.

"I dunno, but it hit me too."

"Where are we?"

The room is small. There are no windows, no furnishings, and only one door.

"It's like a cage." Shippo says.

"Or a prison." Amiya adds.

There is no handle of the inside of the door.

"Look over there." Shippo says, pointing to a corner of the room.

A girl is lying propped against the wall.

"She looks like Taori." Amiya says. "But she isn't."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Amiya pokes the girl. "Do you think she's alive?"

Shippo considers for a moment. "I think she's like Seiko."

"You mean she's not in her body?"

"Yeah."

"So. . .how do we get out?"

"I think we wait until someone comes to get us."

Eiji stops and holds up her hand. The other children stop, and so d o the four.

"What is it, Eiji-kun?" Tatsuya asks.

"Can't you feel it, Tatsuya-kun?" Eiji asks slowly.

Tatsuya closes her eyes. "There's someone in Seiko's castle!"

"But that's impossible!" Sakuma exclaims.

"True, nonetheless." Tomoyuki says, closing his eyes as well."

"Why is it impossible?" Sango asks.

"Seiko-sama's barrier excludes all those not of her blood, unless they are accompanied by one _with_ her blood."

"We are the only Children. And you're with us."

"What about Taori?" Inuyasha asks.

Eiji considers this. "Perhaps. But she is not in the castle. Neither is Okaa-san no Seiko-sama. They are the only ones who could have gotten in."

She and the other Children begin to roll aside a large bolder.

"A hidden entrance." Miroku states.

"I can _see _that." Inuyasha says irritably.

"Come, the Gateway will close itself." Megumi says.

"Inuyasha-san, do you wann come with us while we search the castle?" Tatsuya asks.

"What about us?" Kagome asks.

"You are only human. A Miko, a demon slayer, and a monk, true, yet still, merely human." Sakuma says.

"Sakuma-kun!" Eiji berates. "If they wish to search them let them!"

"Hai, Eiji-kun." Sakuma says. Then, too softly for the humans to hear. "But they have no _gift._"

"Do not disprespect Seiko-sama's _friends_." Eiji hisses in the same tone. "Seiko-sama would have my head, Not to mention _yours_."

Inuyasha's ears twitch at that.

"What is it, Inuyasha?" Kagome asks.

"Nothing." He says. "Can you sense whoever's in the castle?"

"I don't know. Let me try." Kagome says, closing her eyes. "I got them. That way." She points.

Eiji starts walking. The other children, Inuyasha, and the three humans follow her.

_I press my hand directly on the barrier. Ripples seem to form on it's surface._

_I jump back. That never happened before._

_My hand print stays on the barrier for a minute before fading._

"_Did you see that?" I ask Seiko._

_She nods. "Perhaps the barrier is weaker here."_

"_It is." Says the voice. "But you still cannot break it."_

"_Do you hear it?" I whisper._

"_Yes. I wonder why."_

"_Because I am allowing you to percieve me." The voice says._

"_How long have you been away from your body?" Seiko asks. Just , out of the blue._

"_You-? Hiw did you know I didn't originate here!"_

"_I didn't." Seiko says calmly. "However, I made a lucky guess, and you proved me right."_

_I smirk._

"_How did you make this. . .guess?" The voice asks, sounding curious._

"_You. . .seem to be suffering. . .shall we a call them. . .withdrawl symptoms. . .?" Seiko suggests._

"_True. I have been away from my body for. . .almost two weeks now, I believe."_

"_Come, won't you show yourself?" Seiko asks._

_And suddenly, the presense is gone._

"_Well, obviously that was the wrong thing to say." Seiko says._

"_You think?"_

Shippo tips his head.

"Amiya." He says, shaking her awake. "Someone's coming."

"Who?" Amiya asks, sitting up.

"I don't know." He knocks on the door. "Hello!"

"They're probably too far away to hear you." Amiya says.

"Now. They're really close. "He puts his ear against the door. "I think it's inuyasha and the others." He says excitedly.

"Let us out!" Amiya yells.

"Inuyasha! Kagome!"

There's a sound outside the door.

"Shippo? Amiya? It that you?" Sango asks.

"Yes, it's us! Let us out!"

There's another sound outside the door.


	20. Released

The Family Secret

By. Tate Icasa

Chapter Twenty

Released

The door swings open.

Shippo and Amiya step out, blinking.

"It's really bright." Amiya says.

"Hey, Inuyasha, I think you should see this" Shippo says, glancing back into the room.

Inuyasha follows his gave.

"Taori?" He exclaims.

"_Not_ Taori." Amiya and Kagome say together.

Inuyasha looks at them.

"Shippo and I think she's like Seiko."

Eiji feels the girls wrist for a pulse.

"She has. . .pieces of the Blood in her." She says finally.

"But she has no Gift!"

"How can you tell?" Kagome asks.

"Do _you_ sense the Gift in her?" Tatsuya challenges.

Kagome frowns. "She has no demonic aura.

Eiji motions to the other children and they begin to move the girl.

_I press my head against the barrier._

_I can hear it humming softly._

"_Seiko." The voice says._

_I can hear her look up, startled._

"_Nani?" She asks._

"_Tell your sister to come away from the barrier."_

"_Taori-chan?" Seiko suggests._

_I frown and take a step back._

_The barrier glows for a second, and seems to fall away._

"_Taori Higurashi, I need you to do me huge favor, so I'm helping you lower the barrier. Temporarily of course._"

"_Of course." I mutter._

"_You will find Seiko's body."_

"_Wait!" I shout._

_There is no reply, then, a loud booming sound._

I look around.

I'm standing outside Seiko's castle.

'Find Seiko's body.'

I look around again. The gate is open. I step inside, and stretch my sense.

Some of the village children are here. So's Amiya's family. And Shippo. And my parents.

I count them. Then I single out Shoko.

He'll be with Seiko for sure.

I start to walk.

Inuyasha's ears twitch.

"Taori-san is here." The Children say in eerie unision.

"She goes to Seiko-sama." Tatsuya says.

"She is not herself." Eiji says.

Sango's eyes widen. "You mean she's possessed."

"No." The children say in unison. "Bewitched."

"Damn." Inuyasha mutters, taking off down the corridor.

The others follow hurriedly.

I stride purposefully into the room.

Shoko is sitting with Seiko's head in his lap. He's running his hands through her hair.

"Shoko." I say, more sharply than I intended to.

He looks up quickly.

"Move away from her." I say.

He does so, with obvious reluctance. Why does that bother me?

I frown and kneel next to Seiko.

'Your hands on her temples.'

I do as the voice commands.

I can feel the pulse of Weiko leaving my mind.

She moans lightly, and Shoko is by her side instantly. I frown. That bothers me too.

"Taori-chan. . ." Seiko murmurs. " . . .Arigato."

I smile. "Douitashimashite."You're welcome.

'Find my body.'

"How?" I ask out loud.

Shoko looks at me. Seiko smiles slightly. She understands.

'It is by the dungeon.'

I nod and begin to walk.

"Taori!" That's dads voice.

"Otou-san." I acknowledge as I pass him and the others.

'Sleep now.' Says the voice.

"I don't want to sleep.' I say softly. Dad and Shippo hear me.

"Taori?"

'Sleep NOW!'

I hear the booming noise.

_The barrier is back up._

"_Lemme go!" I yell, slamming against it. I'm thrown back. I stamp my foot._

"_I will find my body myself, with no interference from the others."_

"_Do you have a name I can call you by?" I ask, after a minute._

_The presense seems to consider this. "My name is Miyanu."_

"_Miyanu." I repeat. "Will you show yourself yet?"_

"_I might as well. You will see my body soon enough."_

_The barrier seems to part as she steps in._


	21. Revealed

The Family Secret

By. Tate Icasa

Chapter Twenty-One

Revealed

A/N: I'm not particularly proud of this story. It was written so long ago, and I've moved on, and gotten better. And second gen fic just BUGS me these days. But I found a few chapters of this tucked in a drawer, and my vaguely OCD muses won't let me recycle them without finishing what I started. I have NOT edited this as I've typed it out, and believe me I've been sorely tempted.

_She looks like I did before my youkai blood came out._

_"Miyanu?" I ask._

_"Hai, Taori Higurashi. It is I."_

_"Why did you suddenly decide to reveal yourself now?"_

_Miyanu smiles. "I trust you, Taori. And... I suppose I owe you."_

_I nod. "So, who are you really?"_

_"Let me tell you a story," Miyanu says gently. She sits. "Come, sit by me."_

_I do._

_"Good girl." She smiles. "Once, a hanyou and a human had a child. In fact, they had twins. Both were born weak, and barely alive. The youkai blood between them only enough to keep one alive. So they drained the blood of one into the other, and the drained one fell into a deep sleep. The child didn't wake for three days, so the parents put it in the river, assuming it was dead."_

_"Is that the end of the story?" I ask._

_"No. Because the child wasn't dead."_

_"You?" I ask._

_"Yeah. I was found by Kikyo."_

_"Her again," I say dully._

_Miyanu rolls her eyes. "Auntie Kikyo raised me. But... she couldn't give me what I wanted." She sighs._

_"Which is?"_

_"My youkai blood."_

_"Lemme make a guess here. Miyanu... Higurashi?"_

_She nods. "Originally I planned to take back my blood from you. But I don't _want_ to... and if Seiko will give me hers..."_

_"I see," I say._

_"I hope you do," Miyanu says. She stands and the barrier parts. "When I leave, the barrier will fall."_

When Taori barely acknowledges them, the others turn to follow her.

"Now she is possessed," Eiji says.

"Taori!"

"She is fine," Taori's voice says. "I merely wish to return to my own body."

"Who are you?"

Miyanu doesn't reply. She kneels next to her body.

I'm looking down at Miyanu.

"Taori!" My mother grabs me by the shoulder.

"Okaa-san," I say, nodding.

"You're okay, Taori?" Amiya asks.

"I'm more concerned about Miyanus," I say, purposely not answering her question. If you want the truth, I don't know quite _how_ I am. I nudge Miyanu.

"Where is she?" Seiko says, sounding shoves past everyone, knocking me down, and picks the barely conscious Miyanu up by the collar, snarling. "You little bitch..."

"Neechan!" I snap. "Leave her alone! She's not even awake yet!"

"Yeah, I am," Miyanu says blearily, rbbing her eyes and blinking. "Why are you holding me by the neck?" she askes Sieko, tilting her head.

"I was wondering the same thing," I say suspiciously.

Seiko glares angrily at Miyanu and shakes her, hard. "You... tell me exactly what you did!"

"When" Miyanu asks seriously.

"While we were in _her_ head!" Seiko says, pointing at me. "You put a line on my neck, and I want to know what is is _and_ what it's _for!_"

"I never put a line on you."

"Taori, who is she?" Mom whispers to me.

"Shh, I wanna hear this."

"Liar!" Seiko snarls. "It's still there. What is it?"

"I don't know," Miyanu says calmly. "But I'd be willing to find out. If you'll just put me down?"

"Like hell I will. Stop toying with me, wench!" Seiko slams Miyanu against the wall.

"Neechan!" I gasp. I'm not sure which one I'm talking to.

"Stay out of the way, Taori!" Miyanu says. "I think she's been bewitched.

I stay back.

"Miyanu, be careful," I say.

"I will," she says. "Seiko, if you will?"

"No!" She swings Miyanu around.

"You're gonna kill her!" I exclaim, latching onto Seiko's arm.

"I'm _not_," she prtoests.

"I _didn't_ put any line on you, Seiko. When I showed up, you were both unconscious."

"What if it's a side effect of giving away your youkai blood?" Amiya suggests.

"Unlikely."

"No, it's not," Miyanu says. "It's very likely."

Seiko snarls again and drops Miyanu.

I kneel next to her.

"You okay?" I whisper.

"Yeah." She sits up.

Before we can say more there's a loud thud. Miyanu and I look over to see Mom and Sango dragging Seiko away from the wall.

I jump up.

I can feel a sudden pressure in my head.

I can feel myself tipping.

"Seiko!" I shriek. "What aer you doing?"

Whether what she says next is unintelligible or whether I am too far gone to hear properly I don't know.

I snap out something just about as intelligent.

"Taori!" Who says that? I can't tell. I turn and snarl before taking off.

Seiko pulls away from her captors and follows me.

I can hear her behind me.

She can't keep up. I'm father than she is, I have more youkai blood in me.

I can hear more of us in the castle, slower than Seiko. That must be the Children.

I wonder where we're going, and why. And why we're the ones going.


	22. Discomforting

The Family Secret

By. Tate Icasa

Chapter Twenty-Two

Discomforting

I jump up onto a rock, far ahead of the others.

I can still hear them. Seiko is closest. My ears twitch. Only three of the Children are following. Eiji, Tatsuya, and Megumi.

I slow down.

The pressure builds in my head again, pushing away all reason. I scream and begin running again.

I can barely think.

I vaguely realize that the faster I go the less the pressure gets.

So I run, as fast as I can. Faster than I should, probably. I can't tell how much oxygen I'm getting.

Even so, it takes me forever to get where I'm going.

Wherever that is.

This place can't be more than a mile square. Inside, the pressure is gone. But stepping outside...

On a sudden impulse, I touch the back of my neck. There's a raised line, stretching from the tip of my spine to my hair line.

"Scratch Amiya's theory," I growl. "_I_ haven't given away any youkai blood."

I pace restlessly around in circles until Seiko arrives. I've been waiting for her.

"Do you know where we are?" I growl.

"Not a clue," she says. She sounds slightly calmer than I do.

I snarl at her.

She growls softly. "Taori-chan, don't mess with me."

My ears flatten to my head and I hiss.

I see her fangs flash as her lip curls up.

I feel my youkai blood flowing.

"What just happened?" Amiya asks, confused.

"No idea," Miyanu says.

"We should follow her," Miroku says.

"Them," Yotai corrects. "Seiko-sama went with her. So did Eiji, Tatsuya, and Megumi."

"Fine."

The split up without a word. Sango and Miroko take Kirara. Amiya and Shoko go with Shippo. The thiree children together. Inuyasha, Kagome, and Miyanu are left standing all alone.

Seiko croouches and I can see she's going to jump at me. I can feel all reason seeping from my head.

I growl and leap at her. I can feel my half-claws digging into her shoulders.

Inuyasha, Kagome, and Miyanu have finally gone after Taori, Kagome and Miyanu on Inuyasha's back.

"Taori called you Miyanu, right?" Kagome asks.

Miyanu nods.

"You wanna tell us why you were in Taori's head?" Inuyasha asks.

"It's a long story."

"Then start by telling us who you are," Kagome says. "And why you look so much like Taori. You could be her twin."

"I wasn't dead, you know," Miyanu says. "Very weak, but not dead. You're very lucky Kikyo found me."

"Huh?"

"When you threw me in the river," Miyanu clarifies. "I wasn't _dead_."

Inuyasha turns his head to stare at her. As they are in the air, this throws off his balance, causing them all to crash into the ground.

Seiko is glaring murder at me. She's obviously trying not to strike me.

"Taori, this is foolish!"

I growl. Then I release her shoulders and push her back.

"Fight or die!" I snap.

Suddenly, there's a coldness on the back of my neck.

_/Ladies, calm down./_

I can feel my eyes dragging closed.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome exclaims, picking herself up off the ground.

"Sorry," he mutters. "Hey, where's the girl?"

A bush moves and Miyanu's head appears over it.

"I'm here." And, then, before anyone can say anything else, "It can wait. Taori needs our help."

_I'm not back inside my head._

_At least, I don't think so. This isn't the forest._

_For a while, I'm simply floating in blackness._

_Then, suddenly, I'm someplace else. I can't tell where._

_Someone is holding me by the neck. And pushing my head under the water._

_I surface, sputtering._

_There's no one there. I gasp for breath._

_Something wraps around one of my ankles, dragging me down again. I kick and wave my arms until it releases me. I break the surface._

_"Help!" I yell as it wraps around my legs again. "Somebody help me!"_


	23. Dog Fight

The Family Secret

By. Tate Icasa

Chapter Twenty-Three

Dog Fight

I blink rapidly as I come to.

I must've been unconscious for a long time.

After a few minutes, I realize tat I'm just staring up at the sky.

I roll onto my side and sit up.

_Where am I?_

I look around. Still where I was when I blacked out.

I hear a growl behind me and turn.

Seiko is croucked behind me.

I tilt my head. She does the same.

"Seiko..." I say warningly.

"Taori," she acknowledges.

I bare my half-fangs at her and shrink back slightly as she returns the gesture.

I snap out something unintelligible, readying myself for battle. She snarls something of equal value.

"_Die!_"I shriek, launching myself at her.

I feel a coldness on the back of my neck.

/_That's not _calm_. I said calm down./_

_I barely see the blackness this time before I'm back in the water._

_A hand is holding my head under._

_I flail my arms in an effort to get away._

_The hand eases suddenly and I break the surface. I have time only to gasp for breath once before I'm pushed under again._

_I scream, but no sound comes out._

_I choke, swallowing water_.

I let out a strangled cry.

Then I sit up, quickly moving into a defensive crouch as my ears twitch.

I see a flicker of movement out the side of my eye and spin, my ears instinctively flattening to my head. I hiss in surprise when Seiko bowls me over from behind.

I roll quickly to break my fall and slash at her face with my half-claws.

The second they break the skin I recoil. I can smell the blood.

My eyes widen, shocked. Then I grin. I lick the sticky liquid off my fingers tenatively.

Seiko herself wipes the blood from her face with one hand and begins to lick it off.

I growl, but not threatningly, and she glances up.

"Good," I say, holding up my hand. I lick my lips.

She nods, then proceeds to ignore me.

"More," I demand.

She shrinks back."Iie!"

I growl. "More!"

She shrinks back further. "Iie! Stay away!

I snarl, and strike at her, but miss.

"Taori!" she snaps angrily. "Leave me alone!"

"_More!_" I demand again.

But she holds one hand to the cuts.

"Then _die!_"

_I don't even see the blackness, and I'm already under the water._

_But I realize that nothing is pulling or pushing me down. I surface as quickly as possible and take a huge gulp of air._

_/What is _wrong_ with you, girl?/_

_I look around. There's no one there._

_I notice that the pool I'm in is perfectly curcular, and quite small, and I climb out, wringing my hair dry._

_/You can't go getting into fights for no reason./_

_"Have a reason," I mutter._

_/And what might that be?/_

_I cross my arms sullenly._

_/Answer me, bitch!/_

_"Part of me's human," I mutter. Probably not the best comeback in the world. It's not my fault I can't think straight._

_A chuckle. /So it is. So it is. Ningen blood, that of a Miko as well. Strong blood. A good split./_

_"Split? I'm only a quarter yokai! My father is a hanyou, not a youkai!_

_./Even so, as are you. You had more youkai bled into you as a child, perhaps./_

_I growl. Can't argue with that._

_/As I said, a nice split./_

_"You said good the first time, not nice," I poit out._

_/Insolent girl!/_

_I shrug. Insolence is probably the least of my worries, at this point._

_/Do you have _any idea_ who you're dealing with?/_

_"No," I answer honestly._

_A roar. /Silence!/_

_Suddenly, a blow to my face. No on'es there, but I definately felt that._

_It's strong enough to throw me back, into the pool._

_I can hear the splash of the water, but I don't feel it. My eyes are open, there's no water anywhere._

_I'm falling._

_Through darkness._

_And as I fall I feel myself fading._


	24. Amnesia Bites

The Family Secret

By. Tate Icasa

Chapter Twenty-Four

Amnesia Bites

I open my eyes slwoly. Then I close them again. There's nothing but blackness anyway.

I let my sense restore one at a time.

Little by little, and slowly, they each return to me.

Finally, I open my eyes again.

Much better.

I'm cautious to move, and for a second I don't know why. Then I realize I don't know where I am, _who_ I am, or why I'm here and what happened to me.

I turn my head one way and then the other. Seeing no immediate danger, I sit up.

I feel something on top of my head. I reach up and connect with something warm and furry. Ears? My eyebrows shoot up. This ceartainly raises some interesting questions.

Okay, then, whoever I am, I guess I'm not human. At least, not fully. You'd think I'd remember something like that.

My strang ears twitch again, so I turn.

Laying on the round, unmoving, is a young wman. Her eyes are closed and she's breathing softly.

I kneel beside her, and quickly check for a pulse. Found it. Okay, sh'es definately alive.

"Hey, lady, get up," I whisper urgently.

She doesn't respond at all. I put the back of my hand to her forehead. So, she isn't sick.

"Wake up!" I poke her head. "Come on, get up."

Her eyelids flutter and she moans.

It takes her a while to wake up all the way, an when she does I stare down at her worriedly.

She opens her eyes. Gold. She's not fully human either, then. We have something in common.

"Hello," she says.

"Hi." I wave. "Are you okay?"

"Two legs, two arms, one head..." she says, checking. "Yep."

I nod. "Any idea where we are?"

She shakes her head puzzledly.

"You have a name?" I ask.

She tilts her head. "I suppose I must."

I wait, but she says no more. "Well, what is it?"

She shrugs. "I don't know." She blinks. "Do you know yours?"

"No," I admit. "I suppose we should look around. Figure out where we are."

"Yeah."

Neither of us move.

"Do you remember _anything?_" I ask.

She purses her lips thoughtfully, and brings one hand to a closed cut on one cheek.

"I think there was a fight," she says slowly. "But I don't _remember_ it."

I smile. "That's okay. Neither do I."

Before I can say more, I notice three younger girls running toward us.

"Look, it's Seiko-sama!" one of them gasps, pointing to the lady. "Seiko-sama! Seiko-sama!" She looks like she wants to hug Seiko, but intsead she drops to her knees, bowing. The other two beside her also bow.

"E-excuse me?" the lady, Seiko, stammers.

"Are you okay, Seiko-sama?" one of the girls asks.

"I don't know." She points to herself. "_I_ am... Seiko?"

The three girls exchange worried glances.

"Seiko-sama, you don't remember?" the girl asks.

Seiko shakes her head.

"What about me?" I cut it. "do you know who I am?"

"Sure," says another girl. "You're Taori-san, Seiko-sama's little sister."

"Neither one of you remembers anything?"

I shake my head, and Seiko does the same.

"Well, then," the first girl says. "My name's Eiji, and that's Tatsuya and Megumi."

I nod.

_/Ladies! Welcome!/_

The voice frightens me and I look around. Obviously the others heard it too.

_/I am Natsakazu Shinichi, and now you are mine./_


End file.
